Clowns (Native American mythology)
Clowns hold a significant place in Native American mythology and ritual, serving various functions across different tribal groups. These figures often feature unique costuming, such as the mud-head clowns of the Hopi and Zuni or the black-and-white-striped clowns of the Koshare and Apache. Clowns are frequently linked to creation stories, highlighting their unusual origins and connection to elemental forces like water and the sun. They engage in behaviors that may seem outrageous, such as walking or riding backward and performing scatological acts, which serve both to entertain and to impart important lessons about personal responsibility and societal norms.
Through their humor and antics, clowns illustrate the chaos that arises when rules are disregarded and the dangers of human vices like greed and promiscuity. They also play a crucial role in ceremonies, believed to ensure fertility, good harvests, and health, thereby reinforcing their status as powerful figures in their communities. Clown traditions are experiencing a revival, with contemporary representations appearing in tribal media, reflecting their enduring cultural significance.
Clowns (Native American mythology)
Tribes affected: Pantribal, but especially Apache, Navajo, Pueblo, Seminole, Sioux
Significance: Through their behavior, clowns reinforce a sense of order and the need for personal responsibility; they can also serve as powerful healers
Clowns are an important part of Indian mythology and ritual. While there is great variation in costuming, ranging from the famous mud-head clowns of the Hopi and Zuni to the black-and-white-striped clowns of the Koshare and Apache, clowns perform similar functions in all tribal groups. Most creation stories include the creation of a clown figure. As in the Keresan story of the clown being created from the epidermal waste of the creator, Iatiku, the clown figure usually has unusual beginnings. While sometimes associated in mythology with the sun, clowns are more often associated with water and water rituals, as are the Sioux heyoka, who receive their power from the Thunderbeings. In most tribes, one must be selected to be a clown and receive years of training in one of the clown societies.
Clowns engage in various forms of outrageous behavior. Often, like the Contrary Society of the Cheyenne, clowns will do everything backward—walk backward, ride a horse backward, and wear winter clothing in the summertime. Also common is scatological behavior such as eating dirt or excrement, drinking urine, cavorting naked, and simulating sexual acts in public. They may also, like the Apache Crazy Dancers, follow behind ceremonial dancers, healers, and tribal leaders, mimicking their behavior.
While part of the clown’s intent is to entertain and generate laughter, they do have a more serious purpose. Through humor, they are trying to teach important lessons to the tribe. Most important, they reinforce the need for personal responsibility, tribal rules, and tribal order. By doing things backward and by violating rules, they show that chaos develops when rules are not maintained. Additionally, through their humor, they show the danger of human vices such as greed, gluttony, and sexual promiscuity. Finally, clowns serve to keep the powerful in check through their mimicking. They remind the healers and tribal leaders that, despite their special gifts, they are only human. By making them look foolish, clowns demystify their power.
Although clowns are humorous figures, they are viewed as very powerful. Their participation in ceremonies helps to assure fertility, a good harvest, and good health. Because of their association with water, they are especially important in bringing rain and performing cleansing rituals. Like the koshare, who are part of the Acoma Medicine Society, they are often powerful healers as well. Watersprinkler, a clown in the Navajo tribe, is an important figure in the Night Chant ceremony, one of the tribe’s most important healing rituals.
While the clowns are usually men, Native American women have been clowns in the Pacific Northwest. Like many other aspects of Indian culture, recent decades have seen a recovery and revival of the clown tradition and activities. Clown figures often figure prominently in cartoons in contemporary tribal newspapers.